This item contains a five-page scan from Heresies 21: Food Is a Feminist Issue, published in 1987, documenting Nikki Craft’s article “Here She Comes, Myth California” and related coverage of the Myth California protests against the Miss California Pageant. The item includes the issue cover, publication and editorial context from Heresies, Craft’s article page, and a reprinted San Jose Times report on the pageant protest.

Image 1: The cover of Heresies 21: Food Is a Feminist Issue, a feminist publication on art and politics. The cover features a large stylized image of an open mouth or scream, with green, red, black, and pale pink graphic design, the title “HERESIES 21,” the subtitle “FOOD IS A FEMINIST ISSUE,” and the price $5.50.

Image 2: A Heresies page headed “Margaret Randall Ordered Deported,” with a portrait photograph credited to Colleen McKay. The page describes the U.S. deportation case against poet Margaret Randall, lists associates and advisors, and includes publication information for Heresies: A Feminist Publication on Art and Politics.

Image 3: The Heresies editorial and publication statement page for Issue 21, “Food Is a Feminist Issue.” The page describes Heresies as an idea-oriented feminist journal devoted to art and politics, lists the editorial collective, mother collective, staff, design, typesetting, and production credits, and includes a large stamp-style graphic reading “Fancy Selected Best Quality Tomatoes — Vine Ripened.”

Image 4: Nikki Craft’s published article page, titled “Here She Comes, Myth California,” with the title arranged in cut-out ransom-note style lettering. The page includes the boxed statement “Question the Tyranny of Slenderness,” arguing that the beauty ideal exploits women’s bodies for men’s profit and entertainment and encourages weight slavery, starvation, vomiting, amphetamine use, diuretics, and laxative addiction. The page includes a photograph of Ann Simonton in the Bologna Dress and a photograph captioned “Nikki Craft with Policeman,” credited to Bob Marshak. A biographical note describes Craft as a political activist using nudity, art, and civil disobedience to confront issues of women’s rights.

Image 5: A continuation page featuring the reprinted San Jose Times article “1000 protesters disrupt Miss California pageant” by Matt Speiser. The page documents approximately 1,000 protesters outside the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium during the Miss California Pageant and describes Myth California demonstrations including “No more profits off women’s bodies,” Beauty Obedience School, women dragging bathroom scales on chains, and protest performances critiquing weight slavery and beauty standards. The page includes photographs of Susan Dubin and a protester wearing a “Beauty Obedience School” sign.

Source/Credit note: The reproduced Heresies pages are credited to Heresies: A Feminist Publication on Art and Politics, Issue 21, Food Is a Feminist Issue, Vol. 6, No. 1, 1987. The issue is available through the Heresies PDF Archive / The Heretics: https://heresiesfilmproject.org/archive/ . The Nikki Craft article and Myth California documentation appear in this issue as published documentation of feminist beauty-pageant protests organized by Nikki Craft. Additional page material includes Heresies editorial/publication context and a reprinted San Jose Times article.

Rights note: This item is reproduced for archival, historical, educational, and documentary purposes. Copyright and credit remain with the original creators, publishers, photographers, and publications where applicable.

This item documents Craft’s early feminist critique of beauty pageants, compulsory slenderness, objectification, and the commercial use of women’s bodies. It also places the Myth California protests within feminist performance art, fat liberation, anti-pornography activism, and civil disobedience traditions of the 1980s.

Series: Published Works
Part of the Nikki Craft Archival Project